UES Community Board To City: Open Park Avenue

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The Upper East Side's community board sent a resolution to City Hall this week requesting the mayor to turn nearly 40 blocks of Park Avenue into open space where residents can safely spend time outdoors.

The board's proposal allows New Yorkers to maintain safe social distances while using Park Avenue from East 59th to 96th streets, according to the resolution sent to City Hall on Wednesday. Board members overwhelmingly passed the resolution during CB 8's April 22 meeting with 30 votes in support, four against and three abstentions.

Park Avenue won't be entirely shut down to cars under the community board's suggested plan. Cars will still be able to make east-west crossings on Park Avenue, according to the board's resolution. The car ban is also limited to peak hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to the resolution.

The board argues that Park Avenue is an ideal corridor to create open space 0n the Upper East Side, which lacks sufficient open space for residents to safely social distance while outside. The avenue, which accommodates two-way traffic across eight lanes, is one of the widest in Manhattan.

"New York City DOT’s Summer Streets program has successfully demonstrated the ability for

Park Avenue to be closed to vehicles to promote physical activities such as walking and jogging," the board's resolution reads.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this week that the city will open 40 miles of city streets in May to create safe open spaces as the weather warms. The mayor did not identify any specific streets, but did say that the city will first focus on streets in or adjacent to parks to reduce overcrowding of the green spaces. Eventually, the city aims to open 100 miles of city streets.

De Blasio's announcement came after the City Council pushed its own plan that would force the city to open at least 75 miles of city streets. Council Speaker Corey Johnson also said he was ready to approach New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo about opening city streets if de Blasio continued to delay on the policy.

The mayor's previous effort to open streets to New Yorkers lasted just 11 days. De Blasio cut the pilot program — which created car-free zones on Bushwick Avenue, Park Avenue, 34th Avenue in Queens and Grand Concourse in the Bronx — citing enforcement problems and objections from the New York Police Department.